Rangers-Leaves in review

1) In an Olympic year there will be lots of back-to-backs and three-in-four nights. So far the Rangers have won the second game of both of their back-to-backs, and tomorrow they play their second third-in-four; they won the previous third-in-four. Conditioning?

2) It was inevitable that Colton Orr and Donald Brashear would dance. Orr wanted it badly. But really it proved nothing, except that a lot of Rangers fans still like and appreciate Orr, and that a lot of them have accepted Brashear. By the way, Orr didn’t want to talk to the media afetr the morning skate. Colton Orr! Colton $#%@ Orr!

3) Michael Del Zotto’s keep-ins at the point are Leetch-like. But nobody ever has done it like No. 2.

4) Tortorella on using five forwards on the 5-on-3 PP: “We’ll take our chances there.”

5) Marian Gaborik has much better hands than I realized, and is a far better passer that I ever imagined. A great passer, in fact.

6) Tortorella on Wade Redden’s turnaround: “He’s played pretty well here and I’m glad he gets rewarded (with a goal and two assists). He’s been good. He hasn’t been great, but he’s been good, and if we can get him — because he has put up numbers — in that type of mindset of bringing offense … we want everybody involved in this. The thing about Redds is he deserves a lot of credit, because he has hung in there. He has been banged around and it’s tough to play defense in this league because you can’t hold guys up and defense has to take hits. Part of our breakout situation is really basically allowing our defense to take hits so we can move it by the forechecking. He’s stuck in there and has gotten banged around, but has done a really good job protecting the puck.”

7) Tortorella didn’t get too angry during his postgame this time, but he loudly corrected a guy who misquoted his trademark motto. “Safe is dead,” the guy said. “No, no, no, no, it’s ‘safe is death,’ Tortorella said, then explained it. “It means, you need to take a chance. It’s the style of play — we want to take a chance. … When we don’t have the puck we want to get it back as soon as we can. … We want to take a chance. If we’re going to make a mistake it’s going to be through aggression on the puck. So that’s basically what we’re talking about there.”

I’m glad Torts sees what Wade is bringing to the table. As he said, he’s been good, not great, but he’s doing the little things that are helping add to the success. As I’ve said on this blog since the 1st game of they year, if he keeps eating hits and making smart plays with the puck instead of turning it over, he’ll be just fine.

Drury on the other hand…well he needs some work. On the puck he looks lost even though he makes a couple good defensive plays. At least its not that noticable since everyone else is doing fine.

Rick are reporters a little gun shy to ask questions of Torts because they are afraid of the reply they may get? I love watching the post game interviews and I noticed that some of the reporters sound like they are nervous and ask the canned obvious questions.

I love the angst between Torts and Larry Brooks, Larry has some pretty arrogant remarks and Torts seems to like to fire it back at Larry. Is that tension as real as it seems? How do you feel when talking to the coach he seems to blame the press for a lot of stuff in the not so distant past does that strain your eagerness to interview him? Sorry for all the questions just interested in what it is like to be a reporter and dealing with this super aggressive personality.

I don’t think Drury was bad last night at all, he made a few really nice plays, one in particular on the PK with Cally to keep the puck in the zone with his glove ( because he couldnt get a stick or skate on it) and then the nice little touch pass to Cally in which a great save was made.

He had chances and came close a few times to putting one in.

Higgins will be fine, we’re winning without him scoring, he will put in 20-30 this year, he as well is getting chances, just hasn’t converted one yet. Those two, with Cally will prove to be a very effective and dependable line as this season goes on.

Yeah Prospal has way exceeded my expectations….well come to think of it the entire team has. The exception being Brasher I think we are getting a less effective player than he has been in the past. I remember when he played for the Flyers he was a beast no one wanted to touch their star players. I did not like the response to the Leaves running Hank with the game already in hand I expected a message to be sent. I’m not a huge fan of retaliation when the game is close but the last run at Hank was obvious, no one pushed him into the goalie and we had a two goal lead. I think the two players that need the most protection are Hank and Gabby they should be considered untouchable because this team is in trouble with out them.

When you play this high pressure system, and everyone is on the same page, the goals will come. Guys are covering up for each other, and we have the speed now to get back in to the play when mistakes are made. This kind of hockey is exciting hockey.

Guys and Girls, can you help me with something. If I am as big a fan as I am with the Rangers with anything else, it would have to be Pearl Jam. Absolutely love them. I am looking in to getting this new Hoodie they just put out, but I need some guidance here. Am I too blinded by my love of the band, or is this really a cool Hoodie? I like it a lot, but does it too closely resemble an Ed Hardy or Afflicion type shirt?

Jason – He looks completely lost with the puck though. He gets the puck and stops skating and just stickhandles back and forth until it gets taken or he lets a bad shot go. He does a great job of crashing the net, but its like he can’t move like he used to be able to to get the puck. His bottom hand almost looks glued on the stick.

As I said it’s fine because he isn’t the focal point so really he just needs to win faceoffs and make a few defensive plays here and there, but from an offensive perspective he has looked pretty lost.

Higgins I think is just trying too much to get that first goal, but once it comes he’ll be fine. He had his worst game as a Ranger yesterday because he was trying to make too many lateral passes in the neutral zone that were blind. He wasn’t the only one though as I’d say at least half the team tried that in the 2nd period. He’ll get things going once he pops one in because he’s created his own chances and has come close. Drury hasn’t shown me that yet and personally, I don’t think he will because he’s not that type of player.

flipped … I think some reporters are probably a little intimidated by Tortorella. Others know he’s going to be edgy no matter what they ask, and some of those actually enjoy getting his ire up.
Remember, a lot of the questions during the postgame are from MSG employees, so they’re not going to be tough.
The Brooks-Tortorella relationship is interesting, because I think they admire and respect each other to a degree, but both enjoy the back-and-forth when it gets hot.
As I’ve said many times, I know Tortorella from a decade ago, when he was a lot different with the media. I have had a few private conversations with him since he returned, and in both of them he has been just as he used to be, a good guy, polite, even funny and helpful. But in a press conference setting — which is the only way most reporters know him — he can be feisty and confrontational.
He has always answered my questions candidly and without the overt antagonism he has shown others. And even those who don’t like him have to admit his answers are pretty darn good when he does respond.

I have to disagree with you in regards to Drury. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed Drury being more physical. I’ve seen him throw more body checks in the last 3 games, than maybe ALL of last season. Slight exageration, but you get my point. He’s going into corners, banging bodies, when Komisarek and Dubi got into it, Drury was right in there trying to clear up the scrum.

The play that won me over with Drury was last season, i believe it was Boston, and someone took a run at Roszival( i think?) hit him on his blind side, and Drury dropped his gloves and fought that guy.

The guy cares about the team, he cares about how he performs, and is respected around the league.

Well, I’ve waited to cool down a bit after the game, yes I know the boys WON, but the running of hank HAS to stop. Really wish we had a nasty physical guy back there to police a bit better. Like I said before, hank will be the happiest guy in the world with a banger!!!! He didn’t come out and say it bothered him in the interviews (i have no idea if torts commented on it or not) because if he says it bothers him more teams will do it. You know it has to. I understand anyone who might be more inclined to jump in there (like avery did the one time) will not be on the ice every shift, we still need a banger/nasty guy back there for hank’s sake!!!!

The game was a gooder though. I give the edge to brash, but not a clear cut win…I think I heard orr getting booed several times (i think).

Drury is playing well to me, but I could be wrong!

AA reminds me of Gomez, just from the simple fact he goes in on the forecheck and is one stride away from a hit and peels off never hitting anyone!!!

We live in a world that has ice and that ice needs to be patrolled by men with balls. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Brett Hull? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for the bad penalties and curse the outbursts; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that my existence, while perturbing, wins games and that my aggression, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins games. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties you want me in the game, you need me in that game. We use words like intrude, interfere, instigate. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to win something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very entertainment I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said “thank you for the slop” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a stick and stand at face-off. Either way, I don’t give a damn what “clean play” you think you are entitled to.
– S.A.

Ok it’s a little scary with them playing so well right now. What makes a team fall off the way have been playing?? Whatever that is we need to keep our heads up and look out for it.
It is really cool to see goals and assists coming from everywhere. As I said yesterday everyones confidence is up there at a high level. Was that Wade Redden that was smiling from ear to ear after the game???? The team is having fun and that’s when your team is successful. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and we should be in good shape come May.

Korpi scored the shoot out game winner last night in a scoreless game . I think him and Prucha deserved to stay here. We drafted them and let ’em go for peanuts. Guys like Dawes ,Prucha and even Mike York , were small players drafted into the tough Atlantic division. It does n’t seem quite fair to them. Does Delzotto end up with the same fate ? He is too small and very light to be a top dman in this league . Time will tell. Gilroy will get burn’t on defense by playing up too much and once he gets reemed out by the coach he could revert to a stay at home dman . Time will tell.

I think Korpi, Dawes, and York were special to us and hyped for the wrong reasons. They were drafted by us and kind of developed in our farm and we weren’t used to that. So we just embraced them at first because of the pride we had that we weren’t used to that. They aren’t BAD players, but I think AA, Grachev, DelZotto, Gilroy, are all BETTER players than those other guys are.

Avery is on another mission this year !!
Gaborik looked hurt after his goal. I sure wish he could take the Olympics off. He is tough and is proving he can play though pain.

Brashear got in alot of little rabbit puches on Colton Orr and Colton got in a couple big shots that woke up Big Brash. Bare Knuckles fist exchanges are deadly and with Brashear’s more accurate little punches he risks less harm to him own fists and bops the crap outta his opponent. Colton Orr’s haymaker style could land him on the injury reserve list so In the long run Donald is more efficient.
Colton Orr is looking fast and pritty good this season ,im impressed. I was wondering if it was Dale puriton who punched Orr’s nose to his cheek one game before we had Orr , Is this why Colton is so agressive? Cuz he doesn’t want to have his nose rearranged again.

Well put Nasty1 ” They were drafted by us and kind of developed in our farm and we weren’t used to that. So we just embraced them at first because of the pride we had that we weren’t used to that. They aren’t BAD players”

Korpi,Dawes and Prucha are good players . Just bad time to break in with the Rangers with old vets like Straka,Nylander and Naslund taking away icetime. Maybe Prospal is ruining some prospect come up as we speak..ala Grachev? Naw Grachev need to stay down and Prospal for 1 million is a STEAL!! TY Glen.( actually Torts)

I always watch the post interviews and what a change in atmosphere from the Renney days to now. I actually liked listening to Renney’s interviews just because he had such a unique, quirky vocabulary. Some of the stuff he said was so infuriatingly calm and passive it would get on my nerves.

Not to keep harping on it but if Hank was run into last year it was nice having Mara back there to make the opposing player accountable…

Standing up for/protecting your goalie (or any of your teamates for that matter) should not be the responsibility of any one person. I’d think it would be a natural and automatic reaction to do so. That doesn’t necessarily mean dropping the gloves all the time but I’d like to see a bit more than that of MDZ or Avery. And as far as anyone else on the ice at those times I saw nothing.

Del Zotto actually lost weight. he used to play at 220, which was why he dropped to 20th to us in the draft. People thought he wasn’t able to keep himself in good enough shape to be an NHL player. Then the next year he showed up at 190 pounds and extremely cut. He’s 19, he’ll add weight and be up to 205 or 210 with it being muscle instead of fat.

Also Drury is always physical when the games get heated. The game you spoke about Vinny was 2 years ago. Malik got decked on a cheap hit and Drury stepped in and dropped the gloves. That doesn’t mean he’s doing anything offensively. Plus theres plenty of times that he passes up on hits, however I’m not so much concerned with that. I don’t care if he hits or not, I want to see him play better with the puck instead of being a liability on offense. Or at least just sit in front of the net, which is kind of what he’s doing.

Drury is more inconsistent than the media insists. He sometimes makes up for his boneheaded defensive plays by aggressive scoring plays. His demeanor seems to appeal to coaches, although as a captain and a player he seems to lack any personality whatsoever. No matter how Rangers management promotes him, he is probably one of the less important players on this team. Yet he is American, so he gets talked up constantly.

I agree that Drury doesn’t warrant all this praise that’s thrown his way by Sam and Joe, He has a role with this team and he does it well. Drury is not Messier, but he’s a winner. He won’t get the stats Gaborik will, he won’t lay people out like Graves used to do… but he’s a good player.

But for $7 plus million, he needs to do more, and should do more in this system. We’ll see how it goes.

Yeah Vinny thats all I’m really asking. It’s because I’ve seen him do much more on the puck in previous years, even with the Rangers. He looks like he’s scared to have it, almost like a hot potato. That’s really all it is.

kc – I called him the Ryan Smyth of the US. A guy that puts up pretty good numbers, but for some reason gets praised by everyone and can do no wrong. When Stan called Smyth overrated a few years ago when he came to the Island, people in Canada went nuts haha.

All accurate points. I used to think he was worth $5M tops, and that has dropped to $3M… TOPS.

I will admit he looks like he’s at least trying to get more involved this season in some respect. But the guy is a terrible skater and is literally WAY past his prime at 32. Find some clips of him in Colorado, you will sh1t right in your pants and say THATS DRURY?

I like what Tort said about Redden. Tinman’s been good this year and it was nice to see him get rewarded. Yes, the 2nd was sloppy but the quotes told ya that they knew they were bad. And I’m sure the coach let them know it. That they came out and buried a bad team was refreshing. This team is so much more fun to watch. We can score goals. We have a power play and most notably, we attack.

It’s still early but comparing this team to last year’s is like night and day. Anisimov is gaining confidence too. Notice how much better he’s been since Avery returned?

I’m just glad everyone is saying and thinking the right thing on this team

In the words of Harvey Keitel, “Let’s not start sucking each other D&#Ks just yet”

And I think we all know that Torts is the probably the best coach for not letting the Rangers get a fat head when it comes to winning games.

We win, put it behind us, all about the next game. Love the attitude

And so far Prospal and Kotalik have been the two players to surprise me the most. They both have something to prove and I love that there bsuting there asses out there shift after shift, evenw ith Kotalik drifting from 3rd to 4th line.

But I really hope Avery Artei Kotalik stay together as a line, there’s chemistry to be built there

And Carp is Andreww Gross’ beard as big as Mara’s was in person or does it just look that gi-normous on TV?

LOL, i love that quote. I always want to say it, but never have the confidence. It seems like only a Keitel kind of guy can say that. It’s like if Del Z, Dubi, or Gilroy said it, it would just sound weird.

Leetch and Beuke are up there. Beuke was the man, but its funny because had he played now, he’d probably be out of the league after a year or two if he even got a chance. They were amazing to watch play though. I would’ve loved to see guys like Park and Howell play though because they were pretty damn good too.

Oh boy, so much good discussion to join today, and I’m so out of the loop. ARGH! Had to haul butt at work today because a) my frigging back is out and killing me (yes, I may be fabulous, but even fabs fall apart, sob!) and b) my mother’s about to pull into town in half an hour (which also means missing tomorrow’s game, double sob!)

Anyhoo….just had to say:
• Carp, saw you last night on the tube, too, and you look mahvelous!
• All, Staal sent me an amazing story about Spazz and promises me more pics and stories, which I’ll post on sister blog. Just so you all know, Linda!, I now hate Staal (if he read his e-mail today, he knows what I’m talking about!)

And lastly, ignore the fake commentary for P$C people, but go visit sister blog for great pic of Stanley. The real caption should be, “Whew, this team so far! Gotta rest for tomorrow!”

P.S. On the huge topic of Pearl Jam….I like Vedder and some of their stuff, but was never a mondo fan. However, I did see them once at MSG and, even though Eddie was rooted to the floor, the show was pretty mind blowing. Maybe they’re just better live? I dunno.
P.P.S. Bruce loves Eddie, so I have to have some props…
P.P.S. I need to learn the definition of lastly obviously…hey Pavel, you wanna talk metal, say hey to Linda :)

This certainly isn’t your fathers Rangers’ powerplay… hell it’s not even ours from last season!

5 forwards on the ice? Great move!
2-6 yesterday…(i called it!) good numbers
started 0-9, but since have been converting over 30% of the time.
Puck movement, lots of shots, crowding the net. Welcome to the NHL powerplay…. thank you Torts for transforming this team!

Cool to see Avery wearing the Cascade helmet. They have them in the pro shop where I play and I was checking them out. Pretty cool stuff. It definitely looks safer than the Bauer that I use. It’s amazing that players aren’t clamoring for them if they provide ANY more protection than the one they’re currently using. Every little bit helps and these guys stand to lose a lot of money if their careers get disrupted head injuries.

Not a huge Pearl Jam fan, but my favorite band, Social Distortion, is opening for them for a few shows. Pretty cool.

i want to resist the ‘pre-mature evaluation’ of this team, but i’m certainly optimistic. I will look at 2 points in time specifically…. when we have 25 games in the books, and also at the all star break.

It’s a nice start, but more important how we finish!
Let’s go Rangers, take it to the Queens tomorrow!
—-side note: I’ll be taking the ice for game 2 of my season tonight in Dix Hills, looking for a 2 game point streak! ( 1 goal, 1 assist in a 6-5 loss in which we had 7 skaters and i logged more ice time than ryan callahan! )

Jay, ha! as Linda would say, lmao…hey you’re still wrong where Bruce is concerned, but c’mon, is your mom a Ranger fan…does she live out of town? If I’m lucky she’ll be out with friends til at least 3rd period….but don’t tell me your mom would watch a game with you when visiting after a 5 hour drive….be honest!

I’m on the Knights, we have those mustard colored Nahville Predators 3rd jersey.

and no, not yet. It’s still a mass of dirt out front… should be nice when it’s all done, the local Long Island rinks need facelifts. I enjoy playing at Iceworks… the ice is great… except all the crappy Islander pics and logos everywhere.

Jay –
I think it was you asking about eyelet repair on your skates. I was wondering how you made out. I’m having the same problem with my CCM inlines. They’re not cheap skates and I’ve never had a problem with CCM’s before but I’ve had 7 or 8 eyelets come off.

A spectator for five games, Erik Ersberg will now get a chance in goal.

Ersberg is scheduled to start his first game of the season Wednesday against the New York Rangers, as Jonathan Quick takes a seat after a 4-1 start. Quick is expected back in goal when the Kings face Detroit on Thursday.

The timing might seem curious, since the Kings have won four consecutive games and Quick has been at his best in the last two, but coach Terry Murray made the goaltending plan before the start of the road trip and said he had no thoughts about deviation.
——————————–

I had eyelets repaired some time ago but I had to drop off skates and was without them for a full week. I was looking for a site to purchase more eyelets so I could repair myself and not miss playing in a mid-week game. Anyway, I never found a site to purchase the eyelets. They are deeper than a standard eyelet so most shoe repair shops cannot help.

Hey guys! I have a question for everyone. My MSG Channel isn’t working in my room (I live in a dorm at FIT, right behind MSG no less). As a college student its getting kinda pricey to go out every other night to watch the game and eat.

I know you out of towners watch the games online. Which ones do you guys use? Which ones do you suggest? Thanks!

I’m in central Jersey. Did you trying going to the shop you went to previously and see if they would just sell you the eyelets? It might be worth a shot even if they overcharge you a little. I have the Vector 10’s and it looks like they’ve just rusted and separated. I had my older Vector PF10’s longer and without a problem. The eyelets on the older pair look thicker and like they might be aluminum. So typical, they sell you on all the new high tech features and go cheap on basic
.

As a Pearl Jam fanatic, I respect those who don’t like them…but are you crazy?!?! JK.

I love the new album, especially while driving.

As for the Rangers, I see I’m not the only one who think they actually didn’t even play that well yesterday. If that happened last year, we would’ve lost 3-2 in a shootout most likely. So…yeah…that’s a nice upgrade.

But look on the same page for something that’s called oscillococcinum for the flu

I swear the stuff really works & really deadens the symptoms AND I have a beet juice, carrot, garlic, ginger, parsley, apple & orange juice to along with it & some green tea at night when I feel the onset coming on.

“Sean’s one of a kind,” Lundqvist said. “When Page Six Magazine put me on its Top 25 Best Dressed list [September 2008] with the caption “Sean who?” I gave it to my brother [fraternal twin Joel, a former center for the Dallas Stars, Avery’s former team] to put in Sean’s stall in the locker room. Sean didn’t think it was very funny.”